The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-22


something l could not comprehend. Scour-
ing paries were then sent out to pick him
up at some point along the river, but this
proved unsuccessful. Postal cards. giving
MS description. etc, were then mailed to the
various sheriffs in the adjacent counties,
and theseat last bore fruitful results
On May 30, just eleven days after his es-
cape, Waller was
RUN Town AT CHARLESTON, MO-,
by Sheriff Cochran. That officer was riding
along compacently with a shotgun at his
side when he suddenly ran upon what
he supposed was wild man hid
den in clunp of bushes He drew bead
on the stranger and told him to come out,
and as the Litter did so he displayed the
number $50 III his breast, which betrayed
to the Officer that he had run up with an
escaped convict. He brought his man back
into town, followed by mob of curious peo-
pie, who deriled the prisoner as wild man,
his hair being matted together and frowzy,
his face begrined with dirt, his bare feet
bleeding and lis clothes almost torn off his
| body. Whenthe Sheriff reached the Jail he
dismounted, and, as he turned his back to
go up the jai steps, Walter for it was
none other than hel made gallant effort to
get astride of the horse, but before he could
do SO the mob lad closed i'll on him, shutting
Off all avenuesD Of escape.
lie was subsequently sent back to Chester
and as soon as lie arrived | wanted to pct
nm INTO the sh,e department, as feared, if
he got to worllngain in the open air it was
only matter If a short time before he
would attemptl second escape. However,
as he had proved himself such an excellent
mechanic, the superintendent of the con
struction department insisted that he be
placed to work for him. This brought him
back to the same work he was engaged at
prior to his frs escape, but to insure against
any further breaks a heavy ball and chain
was put on hisle9s and guard placed over
him from the time he went to work in the
morning untilhe was locked up at night.
At this time the prison authorities were
constructing some new ducts to the main
sewer, and as Walter had shown himself to
he Invaluable on masonry work he was set
to work at once placing the key stones to
the arches. TODD his plumbing he was fur
nished with chalkline, from which he stole
very small pieces from day to day and hid
them in his cell,
He was compelled to steal very small
length at a time to avoid detection, but
from May 30, until July 81, he had accumu-
lated enough of these stolen pieces to make
line 40 feet long. This he accomplished
by tying the numerous pieces in short knots
for the purpose of making it strong enough
to sustain his own weight, and to do this he
iilttsJ nave uStu ~ IeeU OF
chalk line. How he had managed to secure
such a long line without the knowledge
of the guard who stood over him all day
was
MYSTERY THAT COULD NEVER BE SOLVED.
Contrary to the usual wish of prisoners at
Chester, Walter desired no cell mate, and
this request was granted from the fact that
he was man over 6 feet high and weighed $50
pounds, and took up great deal of room in
one of the small cells allotted to the convictS
This isolation gave him the means he so
greatly coveted, as he could work on the
bars of his cell without being observed by
his fellow prisoners
The hinges of his cell door were three
inches thick, and these he had sawed COM
pletely through by the time he was ready to
make the final coup.
At3:4O every morning, at Chester, a detail
of convicts are aroused quietly and taken to
the Warden's house to do the cooking and
janitor work, and the keeper who conducts
these men to this place is the only man who
could follow an escaping convict at this time
in the morning, as. none of the guards go on
duty until 6 a. m. Walter, fully appreciat-
ing that fact, decided that this was the
most opportune hour for him to make his
break
Accordingly at this time, on the morning
of July 81, as the keeper was taking his con-
tingent to the Warden's house, Walter
(having both hinges of his cell completely
sawed through jumped against his cell door
with a superhuman effort, and the massive
structure fell with a resembling crash that
reverberated through the prison with de-
tonation as loud as that produced by the
firing of dozan cannons. The guard who
had the prisoners below in charge conducted
them hastily to the Warden's house and
then raised general alarm. Walter knew
that he had just about five minutes to con-
summate his egress, so he hurriedly left his
cell, which is ON the third floor and ascend
ed the cell block to where the duct that
leads into the ventilator is situated This
is brick and stone structure, arched over,
and to gain an entrance he was compelled
to use the heels of his shoes, which he COM
pletely destroyed, and were rendered use
less. He was accordingly compelled to pro
coed on the rest of his journey barefooted.
After he had
GOT INTO THE DUCT
through the hole just made, he crawled
distance of 300 feet to the ventilator which
he assembled TO the roof He then slid down
the sloping roof to the chimney which was
distance of 60 feet from the ground
Hastily tying his fragile string around the
chimney, he descended on it hand over
hand until he reached the end, which
brought him to within 20 feet of the ground,
but, nothing daunted, he let go and struck
the earth uninjured, scurrying as fast as he
could to the woods near by.
In the mean time | had responded to the
alarm, and, seeing what had taken place, at
once OWNED that he had made his exit
through the roof. Taking trusted prisoner
with me, produced lantern and ascend
ed the cell block to the duct leading to the
ventilator. | entered through the hole he
had made, and finally got to the roof, but,
seeing no one there, | slid down TO the
chimney, followed by the trusted convict,
when we were not long in discovering the
true mode Of his escape.
How a man of his immense avoirdupois
could have gone down ON a string as thin as
the one he used was something remarkable
to contemplate. The convict who accom-
panied me laughed at my incredulity, and
boosted that he could descend on it. Not
being able to stand the banter promised to
secure his pardon if he did So Grabbing
the string hastily, he gave it a strong pull,
but shook his head obviously, and frankly
acknowledged that he would not attempt to
descend ON it for all the pardons in the
world. Where on earth Walter had pro-
cured his saw was something that baffied all
our most rigid investigations, and at last we
gave it up as an inscrutable task
After we had discovered his means of
exit, guards were hastily detailed to scour the
woods One of them caught up with the flying
fugitive about Z O'Clock in the morning, in a
cornfield. and leveling his gun at the APP
parently terrified convict, commanded him